Budget alternatives to your favorite beauty splurges

Tiernan McKay is a freelance writer based in Denver, Colorado. Her writing has appeared in magazines such as Alive!, Occupational Health and Safety, Restaurants and Institutions, Tampa Bay and Arizona Woman. Right now, she is either ridi...

Trade this for that

Every woman knows that beauty products can break the bank -- but only if you let them. Some of the price tags on our go-to favorites are painful, yet we buy them anyway because it's hard to find affordable alternatives that actually work as well. In the interest of saving money while remaining your beautiful self, Katie Betian, a Los Angeles-based aesthetician and make-up artist, shares some professional secrets that will help you choose reasonably priced products without sacrificing results.

Lips

"Many of my clients have turned to glosses instead of lipsticks," says Betian, "but whatever your preference, there are definitely plenty of cost-conscious choices out there." In her experience, the affordable selections mentioned here are comparable to the high-end products in terms of wearability, texture and color pigmentation.